Opinion

TNA leaders must discuss problems at home

By K.M.H.C.B. Kulatunga

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has expressed its willingness to enter a political dialogue with the Government.

Over the years, the Government has repeatedly asked the TNA to discuss whatever the problems faced by the people in the North and the East.

Even after the terrorism was eradicated little over five years ago, the Government invited the TNA to the Parliamentary Select Committee to find solutions to problems faced by the people in the two provinces.

Unfortunately, the TNA has rejected such calls and reposed more faith in the international community, assuming that they could exert undue pressure on the Government thorough Western 'peace merchants'. But the Government has vehemently rejected such attempts, demanding that the TNA should resolve their problems at home, without reposing more faith on a third party than the leaders of Sri Lanka.

Same song

The TNA has been touring the West as well as India until recently before the new BJP-led Indian Government opened their eyes, that they should first discuss their problems at home - with the Government. Hence, the TNA has no option but to declare that they are willing to discuss their issues with the Government.

When the last time the TNA toured India, they thought they could play the same song to exert pressure on Sri Lanka. But the Indian Government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has played straight bat, by asking the TNA leaders to discuss their grievances with Sri Lanka Government first.

The stance of the Indian leaders prevented the TNA leaders from turning to the West and R. Samandan and his men returned home empty handed. It was a welcome move by India, respecting Sri Lanka's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The ball is now on the TNA's court, to prove that they are sincerely interested in discussing actual grievances of Tamils in the North and the East. But the TNA should also realise that most problems faced by the Tamils in the North and the East are not merely confined to Tamils but also to Muslims and Sinhalese living in those two provinces.

Sacrifices

Most of them are geographical problems which have been eased with the mega development drives implemented by the Government after LTTE was militarily crushed. Tamils in the North and the East could also encounter linguistic problems.

There again, that is not only confined to Tamils but also Muslims in the two provinces.

It is up to the TNA to make the best use of the peaceful environment that has been achieved due to immense sacrifices made by the Security Forces. In fact, the vanquishing of the LTTE leaders has enabled the TNA and all other Tamil political leaders to return to active politics.

The LTTE had silenced almost all political leaders in the North and the East at gun point and it was Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran who controlled all Tamil parties in the two provinces through his so-called political wing leader S.P. Thamilselvam. Prabhakaran gave orders to the TNA leaders from his Wanni jungles and it was Thamilselvam who conveyed those to the Tamil political leaders who were summoned to the LTTE headquarters in Wanni as and when Prabhakaran had wanted.

Rosy picture

But the dawn of peace changed the picture. It not only liberated over half a million people from the clutches of LTTE terror but also liberated Tamil politicians, especially those in the TNA, by allowing them to indulge in politics freely without intimidation.

TNA's Northern Provincial Council (NPC) member Ananthi Sasitharan has emerged from nowhere to project a rosy picture to Tamils in the North, ignoring what her husband had done to people in the area.

She is the wife of LTTE leader Elilan who was responsible for forcibly conscripting large numbers of Tamil children during the final stages of the Security Forces' battle against terrorism. Ananthi however, filed a court case and went globally to win international sympathy.

She now weeps over her 'missing husband' and projecting herself as a voice of 'missing Tamil children'. But it is well known the role Elilan had played as a top notch LTTE leader, contributing to merciless terror attacks the LTTE had carried out.

Missing children

The 'hunters became hounded' last June when Ananthi had to face a barrage of protestors demanding from her the whereabouts of their missing children. On the following month, the same protestors gathered to demand once again on their missing children - abducted by the LTTE to recruit in their child brigade.

When those hapless parents of the children who had been abducted by the LTTE protested for the third time last August, Ananthi was missing in action! Being the wife of the senior most Tiger leader, Ananthi is acutely aware what the LTTE had done and the plight of the missing children. She cannot run away from the responsibility as she had been Elilan's 'partner in crime'.

But all those stark facts have been overlooked by some Western countries who have been using her with VIP treatment in Geneva in March. Much hyped publicity was given by the LTTE rump when she spoke about her 'innocent husband' and 'missing children' during the time allocated for NGOs representing causes of other countries at the UNHRC.

She was pictured gleaming with the US ambassador and Stephen Rapp. Since her election she has become a globetrotter at the expense of Tamils in the North. She has been on sponsored tours to the USA, Germany, Denmark and Norway. She has also been offered visits to South Africa, France, Belgium, Singapore and Australia.

Views

It is pity that some Western leaders have forgotten what Elilan had done in the past. He was LTTE's political commissar for Vavuniya and Trincomalee districts during the cease fire agreement of 2002. Hence, Elilan is responsible for the terror the LTTE had unlashed.

Hence, the TNA should not wash its hands off and act like a saint as far as it accommodate people such as Elilan's wife. If the TNA is sincere in its attempts, they should demonstrate that through their acts. The same applies to the NPC and its Chief Minister. The SLFP Secretary General and Minister Maithripala Sirisena has said that the SLFP would express its views on the resolutions approved by the Northern Provincial Council recently after they are studied by the SLFP Central Committee.

The NPC has even gone to the extent of urging the Government to allow UNHRC investigators to visit Sri Lanka to probe allegations of war crimes and human rights violations.

Human rights

Is that something within the purview of a Provincial Council? Who had given them authority to threaten sovereignty of

Sri Lanka. The TNA members at the NPC should first and foremost study the mandate they had got. None of the Provincial Councils could violate Sri Lanka's Constitution. As Minister Sirisena had pointed out, all Provincial Councils including the Northern Provincial Council have pledged to act within the Constitution of Sri Lanka. They cannot violate it.

Moreover, the West should not use human rights an effective tool to intimidate countries such as Sri Lanka should does not dance to their melody. As Sydney University academic Prof. Danielle Celermajer has urged at a human rights conference, the West should go soft on the Sri Lanka Government, which has refused to investigate war-time atrocities that allegedly occurred at the end of its battle against terrorism.

Celermajer, an associate professor at the university, has told the international community to be "mindful of the heightened sensitivity and fragility" at a conference in Bangkok.

Work for the people

The NPC should give up its cry baby role and utilise its finds allocated by the Government for the betterment of the people in the North. Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran should take a cue from Colombo's Mayor A.J.M. Muzammil when developing the Northern Province.

Muzammil himself had said that the Northern Province Chief Minister should work with the government for the development of the Northern region. Speaking at the handing over of utility vehicles and machinery for the operation and maintenance of city infrastructure to the Colombo Municipal Council and vesting of public convenience complexes for the benefit of the people in Colombo city, Muzammil had urged the NPC Chief Minister to work for the people in the province.

As Muzammil had quite rightly pointed out, Wigneswaran should solve political issues at a different forum while making the best use of his position and funds allocated to the NPC to serve the people in the North.

The Colombo Mayor, a Muslim leader representing the main Opposition, has been able to bring massive development to the Colombo city by working closely with the central government. Similarly, Wigneswaran should work closely with the Government in implementing development activities in the North.

The Colombo Municipal Council, headed by the UNP, has set an example to other government bodies and even to Provincial Councils, by cooperating with the government for the development of the country.